Siteground Review

Good/ SiteGround is great for WordPress users since they have a ton of integrations that can come in handy, a lot of security tools, great customer support, and the low starting price point doesn’t hurt either.

Bad/ SiteGround could be cheaper, and some webhosts provide faster speeds like HostGator.

Verdict/SiteGround’s WordPress compatibility, fair pricing, as well as diverse featureset make them a worthy competitor among the best.

SiteGround Review

Intro

Siteground started small in 2003 as a group of IT professionals looking to create an alternative to other web hosts in the marketplace. Now, 13 years later, SiteGround is a world wide web hosting company with hundreds of thousands of customers. They have data centers across the world and as a provider, they offer now offer services through Linux-based shared, cloud, dedicated and reseller web hosting packages.

In this SiteGround Review, we will go over the best features and any improvements that SiteGround can still make to its service.

Pricing

Shared hosting

Basic “Startup”

$3.95/mo

Mid-tier “GrowBig”

$7.95/mo

Top-tier “GoGeek”

$14.95/mo

SiteGround has a decent pricing package coming in at around what we would consider mid-tier pricing. Their basic plan is only 3 cents more expensive than the cheapest package from A2 Hosting. Their other packages are also very standard and affordable even if A2 Hosting beats it soundly in the top-tier package.

The StartUp plan is recommended if you get less than 10,000 visits monthly and it comes with 10GB of web space. As the SiteGround describes, this is good for first-time blog users, or those looking to get a “great web start”.

The GrowBig package comes with 20GB of web space and they recommend it if you get less than 25,000 visits monthly. This plan also comes with a one year free SSL certificate and 30 backup copies of your website with SuperCacher that can improve your speeds. This plan is “crafted for your web growth”.

Finally, the GoGeek package is recommended if you get around 100,000 visits a month. It comes with 30GB web space, as well as “geeky features” like: fewer accounts on the server, free PCI compliance, WordPress and Joomla staging, and One-click Git Repo creation.

Each one of these packages comes with a free email account, a free domain name, free CD, and unlimited bandwidth.

Uptime and Reliability

SiteGround–like a lot of big name web host providers, has excellent uptime and reliability as a web host. As you may have seen in this post, SiteGround ranks #5 in all of our tested results for server uptime and reliability. This is quite good, and it should provide you with ample uptime for your live website.

Features

#1 Speed

SiteGround brings some magnificent speeds to the table. In our tests, we found that latencies are better than average. Our average speed tests ranged from 450-520ms for latency. Some web hosts have latencies as high as 800ms–so SiteGround is about mid-tier to high-tier for speeds.

#2 Good Support

Testing out SiteGround’s support was a pleasant experience. They have a lot of reps and support has fast connections. While some Web Hosts might have laggy chat connections, slow response times, or long waiting queues, we didn’t find any of that with SiteGround.

#3 WordPress Power

SiteGround includes WordPress hosting on all accounts which means that SiteGround manages auto security updates, server maintenance, and monthly backups (if something random takes down your site–for example if you have a plugin issue or you mess with the code the wrong way).

In addition, they also give you access to WordPress Super Cacher and a free CDN (content delivery network) that ensures multimedia files are delivered quickly. SiteGround also advertises that you can utilize WP staging and Git integration.

Suffice to say, if you want to use a powerful web host for WordPress, you might have come to the right place.

#4 Security Add-ons

SiteGround gives you free access to various security tools like SpamAssassin, SpamExperts, IP address blocklists, hotlink protection, and Leech Protect. Some of the higher-tier plans also include SSL, and HackAlert monitoring (checks your website daily to see if there have been any compromises).

#5 Free domain name

With SiteGround, you get a free domain name–which is quite good regarding cost. Most other web hosts require you to purchase one (even if it’s not very expensive).

#6 One click installs

If you’re looking to make your site Ecommerce integrated or use services like Magento or PrestaShop, CSCart–you can do so quite quickly with the cPanel administrative options.

#7 Free Migration

Like A2 Hosting, you get free server migration with SiteGround. Free server migration means that even if you are using another web host, you can transfer over to SiteGround with no charge. Other services like Bluehost are quick to charge you a $149 fee…

Cons

#1 Low Storage Space

SiteGround’s basic package has a small storage limit of only 10GB. Some other web hosts give you bigger packages for around the same price. For example, in every plan, A2 Hosting gives you unlimited storage. SiteGround does up the storage limit for each pricing tier, but if you’re worried about storage, perhaps reconsider using SiteGround as your web host provider.

#2 Upfront Monthly Fee

Most web hosts offer the lowest deals for signing up for a year–which makes sense cause your website will be around for awhile. However, SiteGround offers a true month to month price, but it’s not super obvious on how that pricing works till you’re paying with your card. On checkout, if you want month-to-month, you’ll have to pay an additional $14.95.

# 3 No Windows Based Servers

If you want a Windows-based server, you might want to check out another web provider since SiteGround only provides Linux servers.

#4 No Website Builder

Some other web hosts like A2 Hosting give you a free web builder with plans–which is handy if you want to make a custom website easily. Unfortunately, SiteGround does not provide any free Sitebuilder, but it does provide a lot of walkthroughs and tutorials.

Summary

SiteGround has a ton of useful features that come with the well-priced packages. They aren’t the top ranked web host in terms of server uptime, pricing, or even speed–but each category here is quite good regardless. SiteGround has great customer support, and if you’re looking to use WordPress, it’s a good choice.

Tom Spark is a chair researcher, VPN expert, and a geek product extraordinaire. When he’s not spell checking his articles with Grammarly, he’s playing video games, watching too much Netflix, and deciding if he likes his current chair or not.